The science behind the 10-minute brain reset walk

What you do with your body affects your brain

And what you think with your brain also has an effect on the physiology of your body

It works both ways. The bubble bath your brain needs. Every single time you move your body, including when you're running

you are giving your brain what I like to call a wonderful bubble bath of neurochemicals

Those neurochemicals include dopamine, serotonin, noradrenaline, endorphins. And that cocktail of neurochemicals is what is giving the runners their runners high

We know that endorphins do play a really big part of that. But here's the good news

You don't have to be a marathon runner to get this. In fact, we know that even 10 minutes of walking can significantly improve your mood state

decreasing depression and anxiety levels and improving positive mood states as well

So that's where the runner's high gets us to. And it's one of the most powerful things that you can do for your brain today

Let me dive into that neurochemical bubble bath because it's really the key to understanding

exactly how exercise is affecting our brains. So I mentioned several things, several ingredients in

that bubble bath that includes dopamine and serotonin and noradrenaline and endorphins

And that's really key to the mood boosting effects of exercise. But it also includes

what's called growth factors. Several different growth factors get released with movement. And

that is going towards the long-term effects of exercise that can actually help grow and

strengthen two key brain areas. One is the hippocampus, critical for long-term memory

And the second is the prefrontal cortex, critical for your ability to shift and focus attention

So how do we understand this? Every single time you move your body, you are releasing at least a part of that bubble bath

And that helps us understand how only 10 minutes of walking can improve our mood, decrease

depression, decrease anxiety. And as you go up the activity scale to aerobic running and everything in between, you are

getting those mood effects. Why? Because you have higher levels of dopamine and serotonin

But that's just the short-term effects. What about long-term effects? What if you give your brain a bubble bath on a regular basis for a week or a month or

several years? That's when those growth factors kick in. And what do the growth factors do

We know that the growth factors go directly to your hippocampus. The hippocampus is an extraordinary structure because it is one of the only human brain

areas that can grow brand new brain cells in adulthood. And those growth factors help the hippocampus grow shiny new hippocampal cells

And what does that mean? Your memory is better. So that is what you get with long-term memory

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that the other brain area that benefits in terms of

growth and strength is the prefrontal cortex. Now, it's not growing new cells

Some evidence suggests that the outputs of cells in the prefrontal cortex called the

axons of those cells perform better, work better with more exercise. They say that, for example

Serena Williams has really, really well-insulated axons in her prefrontal cortex because of all of

that amazing tennis that she's played for a long time. But those are some of the both immediate and

long-term changes that you get with exercise that start with that neurochemical bubble bath

People often ask me, what is the brain-body connection? And it is the simple physiological idea

And so we've talked about moving your body, creating this neurochemical bubble bath that improves your mood and can grow hippocampal brain cells

That's the body-to-brain connection. What about the other way? One of my favorite forms of exercise that I take and I teach is a form of exercise called intensati that pairs physical movements from dance and kickbox and martial arts with positive spoken affirmations It was developed

by an amazing fitness instructor named Patricia Moreno. And there you are giving your brain this

bubble bath, but at the same time, each movement is paired with a positive thought. For example

when you punch back and forth, we say, I am strong now

And imagine a class where the whole class is different moves with different positive affirmations

I can tell you the first time I took this class, I walked out of that class feeling strong

I felt like Wonder Woman, Supergirl, all rolled up in one. because what you think and what you state verbally

is what you start to believe. And that is why this particular workout is so powerful

It is taking full advantage of that mind-body connection that we've all heard about

That's a way to take full advantage of it. Be more broad in your definition

of bringing more movement into your life. So people always tell me

you are so good at motivating people to exercise, but then after I listen to your talk, I just go

back home and sit on the couch and watch Netflix. What should I do? Motivation is a key. And here's

what I found in my own life as I transitioned from that unbalanced, unhappy, pre-tenure faculty

member that I was to a much more active faculty member. I started small. And I started with things

that I already enjoyed, which for me was dance. I remember when I joined the gym

I decided I wanted to be more active. And like many people, I joined the gym and I went to a hip hop dance class

Okay, I love dance. I'm a terrible hip hop dancer. And I remember coming out of that class saying

oh God, that was embarrassing, but still fun. I enjoyed doing it

So my tip, my motivational tip for everybody is start small and start with things

you already know you like. If you hate running, don't run. You don't have to run or start practically

One of the things I did over the pandemic is I turned my weekly cleaning session

into an exercise session. Have you ever seen that movie, Mrs. Doubtfire

Have you ever tried to do that choreography that Robin Williams did with the vacuum cleaner

It is hard. It is a great aerobic workout. And if you bring that play and that joy

to even scrubbing the bathtub, it makes it more fun. It makes it more enjoyable and more aerobic

The other question everybody asks me at the end of my talks is

that sounds great. I want a neurochemical bubble bath, but I really want you to tell me what is the least amount of movement

that I have to do to get that neurochemical bubble bath. And here is the answer based on actual scientific studies

And that is, we know that as little as 10 minutes of walking can improve your mood

That is getting that bubble bath with the dopamine, serotonin, endorphins going

Anybody can do that. You don't even have to change into your spandex

Go for a walk. You don't have to change your shoes. Everybody can do that wherever you live in this world, in this country

And so that is the minimum. But that's, I love this. Start small

so everybody can walk and then just add on. Can you walk a little bit more

Can you park a little bit farther away? Can you do another round of shopping

with the big cart in Costco? That's a great way to get exercise as well

For example, make it fun, practical. Oh, include your friends as well

That, I went to hip hop, I didn't go to hip hop dance class

I went to dance class and found friends that I went to dance class with

that made it even more enjoyable, even more motivating. I certainly check goals

And at the beginning of the year, everybody wants to have their beginning of the year goals

I think those are, they tend to be bound for failure. And I instead, instead of at the beginning of the year, put all this pressure, I like

to set smaller goals for myself doable goals goals that make me excited to try them That is the key And sometimes it takes a little bit of thought Maybe it not those scary classes where you have to lift that tire up and

push it across the room, but maybe it is a walk on the shore, a walk to the gym, a walk around the

museum with friends. Be creative about the ways that you can get gardening. That's another thing

People think those things don't count. They all count. Moving your body, especially outside

all of that counts. Everybody wonders about what is the best time to work out. And my first answer

to that question is always, anytime you could fit it in, fit it in. Don't let the, oh, I'm doing it

it this time and, you know, it's not the best time, so I'm not going to do it. Let go of that

Anytime you can fit it in from morning till night, fit it in. But if you want to get a little bit

more technical about it, here's what I've learned from my studies of the effects of exercise on the

brain. And that is that, as I said, every time you move your body, you're giving your brain

this bubble bath, what exactly do you get? You get better mood, you get better performance on

tasks that require your prefrontal cortex, which basically means you can shift and focus your

attention better. And something I haven't mentioned yet, your reaction time, your response time

is better. And so I think about that. I'm reading all the papers, done the research on my own that

confirmed all of those immediate things. And so here's what I came up with. And also people ask

well, when do you work out, Wendy? I work out first thing in the morning for several reasons

One is that it's harder to have other things come get in the way of that. So it's interrupted

less. And two, I love the idea that after I work out first thing in the morning, I have this brain

that is happier, that can focus attention better, and that responds quicker, that's the brain that

I want to bring into my workplace first thing in the morning. And I did notice, so full disclosure

when I did this experiment, I was totally enjoying my after-work workout sessions

So I would reward myself, as many people do, go to the gym after work, and I loved it

But as I got into the research and I switched my research from memory to the effects of

exercise in the brain, I thought, hmm, let me give this a try

And I'm not going to lie. It was painful to switch to first thing in the morning exercise

I was sleepy. I couldn't follow the classes because I was half asleep in class

And it was two weeks of pain before I got used to the new schedule

And then once I got used to it, I found that I could focus attention even longer in my day

For my whole life, I've always worked best first thing in the morning

I'm a morning person. And so that morning good work time got longer when I started and got used to that early

morning workout. And you might say, well, I'm not a morning person, Wendy. I totally get it

Try it. I love to advocate for personal experimentation. You know the science now

that you're giving your brain a blah, blah, blah. It's gonna make your focus work better

It's gonna improve your mood. When are you gonna apply it in your life

for how your life works? That's how I applied it to mine

And I like to work out in the morning. You apply it to yours and let me know how it works out

So many of us use caffeine. I'm not a coffee drinker, but I'm a regular tea drinker

And I think that to switch your exercise regimen goes beyond just the use of coffee or trying

to use it to get yourself up. It's really shifting your circadian clock, getting your body used to movement first thing

in the morning. That's what was so painful for those first two weeks that I tried it

So it really is being disciplined. If you want to wake up earlier, you need to go to sleep earlier

And that is the hard part. You know, there's always one more Netflix episode to watch

And you think oh it won do any harm but it will And so it shifting that circadian clock and really sticking to it I think yeah you can use caffeine as a crutch but I think the sleep change and the kind of the timing change in your life and kind of getting a handle on that

And again, what works well for you is the most important formula

There's a lot of data on the idea that late night workouts, I mean, they could benefit

your body and you're still getting that neurochemical bubble bath. But endorphins are not the best thing to help you fall asleep

And so, you know, you need time to cool down before you go to sleep

I experienced this myself. I never am able to go to sleep after I give an evening lecture

the later, the worse it is for me. I need several hours to come back down. And even though I usually

go to bed at around nine, nine 30, if I'm giving a talk at six or seven, it takes me several hours

to, to, to calm down and get into that restful state. And that is just, you know, energy levels

That is your fight or flight response coming online, um, um, uh, increasing that adrenaline

in your body and even that cortisol, and you can't go to sleep with that level of that kind

of neurochemical and hormone in your system. It simply takes more time to go to sleep

This is another situation where that personal experiment on yourself is notable. Journal

about what works for you. Every single time I give a talk at six or seven, I need several hours

I'm not going to get a good sleep. So do not schedule an early morning, you know, big important thing to do because I'm going

to need to sleep in the next day. Find that for you. Journaling is great to notice those trends in yourself, but self-experimentation, knowing

some of the science behind it can be a very powerful tool to shift your life in the way

that you want it to go. Here are my two motivations, and I'm a nerd, so I have neuroscience motivation

Motivation number one, I love this idea of giving my brain a bubble bath

of great neurochemicals first thing in the morning. I know it's benefiting my brain

And I love the idea that part of those neurochemicals are growth factors

because my favorite brain structure, the hippocampus, I know is getting bigger and fatter and fluffier

every single time that I work out. Why is that important? It's because the hippocampus is one of the most sensitive brain areas to aging and it

starts to lose its connections. And I am motivated by making my own hippocampus as big and fat and fluffy as I can so that

even if I get dementia, which I have in my family heredity, in my family history, that

it's going to take longer for that dementia to have an effect on my memory

Why? Because I made it big and fat and fluffy with my morning workouts

There are so many different brain benefits for exercise, almost too many to talk about

We've talked about the benefit long-term for the hippocampus. It grows new hippocampal brain cells, making it big and fat and fluffy

We've talked about the beneficial effects of exercise on the prefrontal cortex, another

brain area very susceptible to aging. also increasing probably not brain cells, but the support cells, the glia cells seem to be

benefited by exercise. And certainly the functions of the prefrontal cortex benefit from exercise

Mood is beneficial. Motivation is, I can't point to the specific brain area that is important for

motivation. But that positive habit that you create as you do regular exercise is a huge benefit

for aging. Just getting that positive habit into your life. Those are my top, how many did I name

Four. Hippocampal function, memory, prefrontal cortex, focus, mood, and motivation. All things

that are benefiting from your regular exercise. Want to support the channel

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